Mending Hearts
by WinchesterLover
Summary: It's been a few months since the deaths, and Ponyboy is still having a hard time getting back to normal. When he meets a girl, who has problems of her own, will she be able to help Ponyboy be himself again, without letting him find out her hidden secrets?
1. Chapter 1

**Mending Hearts**

**Chapter One**

Sunlight flooded in through my window, filling my room with its warmth and brightness. I rolled over and looked at my clock. 12:03, it read. I sighed, and then pulled myself out of bed. Even though Darry and Soda had been letting me sleep in more then they usually did, it didn't feel right to sleep the day away. I went to my dresser, pulled out some clean clothes and headed to the bathroom.

The house was empty except for me, but that was expected. It was a Monday, and both of my brothers were working. They wouldn't be back 'til around five. Ever since summer began last month, Soda had started to work more. He said that it was because we needed the money, but I knew that it was because he couldn't stand to be around me while I was still so shook up by what happened.

I quickly had a shower, changed into my clothes and looked at myself in the mirror. Despite my hair still being blonde, and the dark bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, I looked the same as I always had. I wore my usual white shirt and jeans and my hair was combed back like it always was. But even though I still looked like myself, I couldn't recognize the boy in the mirror.

The boy staring at me looked young, and fearless. He looked like a greaser. But the boy inside of me felt older than I looked and he was scared. Scared, sad, angry – whatever other words you can think of that would describe the feeling of terrible loss our gang had gone through.

It was nearly August, and although it had only been a few months since Johnny and Dally passed away, it seemed like an entirety. And even though all of us in the gang were living like we used too, going to work and all, we all changed in some way.

I changed the most at of all of us. Maybe it was because I saw both Johnny and Dally die, or because I was only fourteen, but I knew for a fact that I was going to take the longest to recover from what happened. Once school ended, I completely shut out. I stop reading books, stopped going out to movies and didn't really talk much with anyone. I couldn't sleep properly, so Darry let me sleep in a lot. I knew that the gang wanted me to snap out of it, and start to act like myself again, but they didn't, probably just so I wouldn't freak out on them and run off or something.

The second person was changed the most was Sodapop, but that was probably only because not only did he lose two friends, but he also lost his girlfriend, Sandy. As I said before, Soda started to work more, and his attitude also changed a little. He was still the same fun-loving guy we all knew, but it seemed like he had sort of mellowed out a bit.

Although he doesn't like to admit it, Two-Bit has change a little as well. He has been hanging out at our house more and has been getting drunk more than usual. When I brought this up, he said that he hung out here because he wanted to make sure that I was dealing ok with everything and that he wasn't drinking anymore then he did before. Then he got mad at me for accusing him of being depressed, and then left to get drunk.

Another person who doesn't like to admit that they've changed is Darry, but I think that's only because he's the most mature and doesn't want us to see him all sad and whatnot. I would have asked Darry why he was hiding his feelings, but I didn't because Darry hasn't changed in a way that the rest of us can see. He doesn't act any differently or do anything out of the ordinary, but I know that he has changed inside. I know that deep down, Darry feels different about things then before, but of course, being all mature and al, he isn't about to babble to the rest of us about it.

As for Steve, I think the only reason he changed was because the rest of us had. The only thing different about him was that he was now working full-time at DX (mainly because it was the summer and that's were Soda was), and that he didn't think of me as a tag-along anymore. Now he thought of me as the Curtis's little wimpy brother who couldn't over a couple of deaths. A few weeks ago, he had come up to me and said: "Hey Pony, stop acting like you're the only one who misses Johnny and Dally. They were our buds too and you don't see us crying about them every two seconds. How about you start moving on with your life and stop bringing your brothers down with all your whining."

I left the bathroom and headed for the kitchen, finding a note taped to the fridge.

_Ponyboy, there are some left over eggs from breakfast in the fridge._

_Try to get yourself outside today._

_Be home by five._

_-Darry_

I took the note off, put it on the table and grabbed out the plate of eggs. I put them in the microwave for a few minutes, just so I didn't have to eat them cold.

After I finished eating and cleaning up the kitchen a bit, I decided to watch TV for awhile, even though there wasn't much on. Around two, I figured that Two-Bit might be coming over soon; he usually did around this time to keep me company. I didn't really feel like bumming around the house while Two-Bit tried to make me laugh by cracking jokes. It's not that I don't appreciate the fact that he's trying to cheer me up, it's just that, I think I'd get over all this sooner if I deal with it myself.

I quickly found my shoes and headed out the door. I should have left a note for Two-Bit, just so he wouldn't worry about where I was, but I figured he'd be glad that he didn't have to hang with me while I was 'moody', as he said.

I wasn't too sure where I was going, but I do know that I was feeling a little bit better. Maybe Darry was right. All I needed to do was to get out a little more.

I eventually ended up in the park, though I don't even remember wanting to go there. Just then, I had an overwhelming need to cry. I walked over to the fountain and sat on the ledge. Even though this was the place were I had almost been drowned, and were Johnny had killed that Soc, Bob, it didn't feel wrong being here.

I didn't suddenly think back to what happen and start replaying that whole night in my mind like they do in books and stuff, but instead, I thought of Johnny and the times we had with the gang. Then I thought of Dally, and all the trouble he had gotten into with the law and all. I soon found that I wasn't crying tears of sorrow, but tears of remembrance, remembrance of the good times we all had.

"Are you ok?" a voice asked.

I jumped, and turned around to see a girl standing a foot away from me. I didn't even see her come up to me.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me," I reassured her, wiping the tears out of my eyes, "I just didn't realized you were there."

The girl smiled. "Mind if I sit down?"

"Go ahead."

"I'm Beth by the way," she said, sitting down. "Beth Miller."

"I'm Ponyboy Curtis."

"I know. You go to my school."

"Oh," I said, suddenly feeling bad.

"You don't recognize me do you?"

I shook my head.

"Don't feel bad. The only reason I know you was because I meet your brother once."

"Sodapop?" I asked. She nodded. "How do you know him?"

"My brother Mark was in his grade," she answered. "They had to work on an assignment together back in freshmen year, so your brother came over to my house to work on it. I always remembered his name because it was so different."

"And so you knew who I was because my name's different too."

"Well, that and I remembered your last name."

We both sat there for awhile, not saying anything. I looked over at Beth. She was looking at the ground, and her hands were folded in her lap. She wore a white shirt with a pink sweater and a light blue skirt. "Aren't you hot?" I asked.

She looked down at her sweater. "No. I have family in Miami and I used to visit them a lot when I was younger, so I got used to the heat."

"Oh."

"So," Beth said, after a few moments of silence, "how are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine," I said quickly, hoping that she would drop the subject. "I've just have a lot on my mind right now. That's why I was …" I searched for a word that wasn't crying. "That's why I was upset when you came here."

"Oh, well I meant, how are you holding up with what happened."

So much for dropping the subject. "What do you mean?" I asked, even though I knew exactly what she was talking about. I just hoped that she'd take a hint and stop talking about that subject.

"You know," she said slowly, "about what happened to you and your friends awhile ago."

I didn't say anything.

"I was gonna come up and talk to ya, but I didn't know what to say."

"It's alright," I told her, but didn't say anything else.

"Look," she said after a moment, "you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. It wasn't even my place to be asking. I'm sorry." Then she got up and started to walk away.

"Wait," I called out. She stopped and turned around to face me. I got up and walked over to her. "It wasn't your fault," I said, "I'm just having a rough time is all."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she said.

"It just feels like my brothers and the other guys don't know what I'm going through."

"But aren't they going through the same thing?" Beth asked. "I though all of you were in a gang and were like family?"

"We are," I answered. "It's just that, I'm taking the longest to get over what happened, and I think I'm bringing the gang down."

Beth gave me a warm smile. "Ponyboy, I may not know anything about gangs, but I do know a lot about family, and families – well most families – stick together through the tuff times and they help you get through it. I'm sure your brothers and the others aren't mad at you. They just probably don't want to always see you sad and upset."

"Yeah," I said, "Maybe."

"Don't worry. You'll get through all of this."

I nodded. "Hey Beth?"

"Yeah?"

"When I said I was going through a rough time, you said you knew what I meant," I pointed out. "Are you ok?"

Beth's smile turned sad. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just some stuff happened awhile ago. It's nothing."

"Ok," I said, not really believing her, but I didn't want to push her for answers. "As long as you're ok."

"I'm fine." Then her smile returned to her face. "Do you want to hang out tomorrow, you know, get your mind off things?"

"Sure," I said. Hanging out with Beth would definitely help keep me busy from being upset around the house and it would also get me outside and doing stuff instead of bumming around. "What do you have in mind?"

"I don't know," she said. "Let's just meet here tomorrow and we'll think of something. Maybe go to the movies."

"Sounds alright. See you around one?"

"Ok," she said. "See you around." Then she waved and walked of. I turned around and headed in the opposite direction and headed home.

I didn't realize until I got inside and sat on the couch, but the whole way home, I walked with a small smile on my face.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: **Kay, so i forgot to put the disclaimer in the first chapter so here it is: I do not own the Outsiders or any of it's orignial characters. I do, however own Beth and her family.

Thank you and enjoy!! :D

**

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**Chapter Two**

It was nearly quarter to four when Two-Bit came through the door.

"Hey Ponyboy," he said cheerfully, "how's it going?"

I sat up from my lounging position on the couch and ran my hand through my hair. "Not too bad."

"Really?" he said, sounding surprised. "Usually when I ask that question you say 'I'm fine' in that dopey, whinny voice that you use sometimes."

"Ok…." I said, not really knowing how to reply to that.

"So, what did you do today?"

I shrugged. "I went out for a bit."

"Where did you go?"

"To the park."

"What did you do at the park?"

"N-Nothing," I stammered.

"Oh," Two-Bit smiled, "What happened? Did you meet a girl?" he asked, jokingly.

"No," I said, raising my voice a little. "And what does it matter anyway?"

Two-Bit raised his hands in self-defense. "Whoa Pony, calm down. I was only asking."

I put my head down in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," I said, and I meant it. Two-Bit really did mean well, and with me being upset all the time, I guess that he'd be happy if I were hangin' out with someone, especially a girl, instead of bumming around the house all day. But the truth was I didn't want any of the guys to find out about Beth, mainly 'cause I didn't want them to bother me about it.

Two-Bit sat down beside me and patted my back. "It's alright, I understand. You're going through a rough time and you need some space," he said, in an attempt to sound comforting. I just nodded.

Two-Bit and I just sat on the couch and watched TV until Sodapop came home around five. After that, I helped Soda with dinner, (we were making meatloaf), while Two-Bit raided the fridge for beer and sat at the table telling us some outrageous stories that made us laugh.

By the time the meatloaf was done, Two-Bit had left and Darry was just coming home from work.

"Sorry I'm late," Darry called out from the front door. He made his way into the kitchen, just as we were setting down the plates and the food. "Meatloaf?"

"Yeah," Sodapop spoke up. "Ponyboy helped me made it.

Darry sat down in his usually spot and started to cut the meatloaf into slices. "Well, then that must mean the food is actually good." He laughed slightly.

"Oh, ha-ha." Soda took his seat. He took a piece of meatloaf and put it on his plate. "My cooking's not that bad."

"Sometimes it is," I said, taking my first bite. Darry laughed again.

"You seem to be in a good mood," Soda said, ignoring the joke I made at him. "What did you do today?"

"I went out, just for a walk."

"See," Darry clapped his hand over my shoulder. "I told you that going outside might make you feel better."

"Yeah it did."

"You should go back out tomorrow," Darry continued, "maybe see a movie to get you're mind off things."

"Actually, I'm already hangin' out with someone tomorrow," I told them, before I even knew what I was saying.

"Really?" Darry asked, sounding surprised. "Who with?"

I put my head down, to hide the red that was beginning to show on my face, and looked at my meatloaf. "My friend, Beth." Maybe they would just leave it at that and not ask if she was my girlfriend or something.

"So," Soda started, "Is she you're girlfriend?"

So much for that.

Darry hit him lightly in the shoulder. "Soda, leave him alone."

"What? I wasn't doing anything."

Darry ignored him. "Where are you two planning to go?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "We don't know yet."

"Well remind me later and I'll give you some money for lunch and a movie or whatever."

"Thanks," I said, then went back to eating my meatloaf.

After dinner, we all did the dishes, then watched some TV and even played cards for awhile. A little bit after ten o'clock, Darry and Soda decided to go to bed, because they had to get up early for work, so I decided to go to bed as well. I mean, there wasn't much for me to do anyways.

When I got into bed, Soda put his arm around me. He had been doing this more often nowadays. "You ok Pony?" He had also asked this question more often.

"Yeah, I'm fine." My usual answer.

"You know," he said, "I'm really glad that you're going out tomorrow. You've really needed a friend to help you through all this."

"She not really a friend." I mean, I didn't even recognize her when she first said hello. "We just go to the same school. And besides, the guy's in the gang are my friends, almost family like, and isn't family supposed to help you out more?"

"Yeah, family helps a lot, but sometimes you need to talk to someone - someone you don't normally talk to."

"Why?"

"Well think about it," Soda explained. "The rest of us in the gang have gone through the same thing as you. But your friend, she doesn't know what's been going on. So when you talk to her about what's bothering you, she's less likely too say stuff that me and the guys say like, 'get over it, the rest of us have.'"

I yawned. "I guess so." I was about to close my eyes, when I stopped myself. "Hey Soda?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know a guy named Mark Miller?" I asked. "He was in your grade."

"Mark Miller………" Soda thought for a moment. "Oh yeah!" he finally said. "I remember Mark. Used to be a nice guy."

"Used to be?"

"Yeah, he started to drink to much and now he's all crazy and getting into trouble all the time," Soda said. "Not the kind of person you'd want to hang out with. Why'd you want to know?"

"Oh," I started, wracking my brain for an answer. I wasn't about to tell him that Beth was Mark's sister. I didn't need him to freak out on me and think that Beth was a trouble maker like her brother. Even if Soda doesn't remember Mark having a sister, (which he probably doesn't), I just want to stay on the safe side. "I heard so guys talking about him while I was at the park yesterday and I found out that he was the same age as you. So I thought that you might have known him."

Soda just nodded, then rolled over and we both fell into a deep sleep.

The next day I woke about at about nine. Darry and Soda were already gone of to work, so I went to the kitchen and made myself some breakfast – eggs and toast. Afterwards, I spent the rest of the morning getting changed, cleaning up a bit, and I even started reading one of my books again.

Around twelve thirty, I decided to leave. Even though I wasn't meeting Beth 'til one, I thought that I'd just walk around for a bit. I hadn't done that in a while.

On the way to the park, I passed by the DX and said hi to Soda and Steve. Apparently good news travels fast, because when I got there Steve said, "Hey Pony, where's your girlfriend."

Soda hit him on the shoulder and told him to shut up. I was glad, not only because Soda hit Steve, but because I wasn't in the mood for people to bother me. Even though I was going out, it wasn't a date. It was merely just an excuse to take my mind off of all the crap that has been going on in my life.

When I got to the park, Beth was already there, sitting on the fountain that we were on yesterday. Again, she was wearing a skirt; this one was pale yellow, another white shirt, and a light yellow sweater with her blonde hair pulled back into a barrette so that her blue eyes weren't covered up. She looked perfect, except for the fact that she looked sad. And I don't just mean the 'I got in a fight with my friend' sad, but like 'my friend just died' sad; kind of like me sad.

"Hey Beth," I said as I approached her.

She looked up at me and within a span of two seconds she went from really sad to super happy. If I didn't know any better, I would think that Beth needed me to get her mind off things just as bad as I need her. I mean, Soda did say that he brother stopped being a nice guy when he started drinking. Maybe Mark caused problems for her and she just needed to get away. But it's not like I'm about to ask her about it.

"Hey Ponyboy." She got up from the fountain and stood in front of me. "How are you today?"

"Better than I have been in a long time," I said. She smiled at me, and I had to smile back, it was hard not too.

"So, what are we doing today?"

I shrugged. "We could go see a movie. That is, if you want to."

"That sounds like fun." She bounced a little in excitement. Then we walked off from the park.

We ended up talking the long way to the movie theater so that we would have more time to talk. As it turns out, Beth and I have a lot in common. We both love to read, we both love the same kinds of movies and I even found myself telling her about sunset and things like that. She thought it was cool that I was into that kind of stuff, and that she herself had been know to find the simple things in life beautiful and amazing.

In fact, we were so deep into conversation that we ended up passing the movie theater. We didn't notice until about five minutes later when Beth said, "I don't remember the movie theater being this far down."

"I think we passed it," I pointed out.

Then we both started laughing. It wasn't until people on the street began looking at us that we stopped laughing and headed back to the theater.

We ended up watching some movie that was supposed to be a horror movie, but it wasn't. Beth and I just laugh at it, and when we weren't laughing, we weren't paying attention. Half way through the movie we had people telling us to shut up, and we were almost kicked out twice.

By the end of the movie I was feeling more like my old self again. Something about Beth made me want to forget all my worries and just live in the moment. I know that this had been the first day I had actually hung out with her, but still, I feel as if I've known her all my life and I knew that I would be spending more time with her as the summer went on.

"Want to get something to eat?" I asked Beth when we were outside the theater. We hadn't eaten anything during the movie and the last time I ate was at breakfast.

"Sure, I'm starved."

We walked down to the Dairy Queen and we both ordered a hamburger with fries and a coke, and then took a seat at an empty booth.

"So what are you doing tomorrow?" I asked, and then put a couple of fries in my mouth.

"Nothing that I know of."

"Wanna hang out again?"

Beth smiled. "I'd love too." Then she pushed the sleeves of her sweater up to her elbows and took a drink of her coke.

"If you're hot," I started. "Why don't you just take off your sweater?"

Beth's smile faded. "I'm not hot, I'm fine."

"Ok," I said. "So what do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Terrorize the town," Beth joked, and her smile returned to her face.

"Sounds fun, but I don't think that Darry would approve."

"Is Darry your brother?"

"Yeah, he's my eldest brother," I said. "I live with him and Soda."

"No parents?"

"No, they died."

"Oh," Beth said sadly. "I'm sorry, Ponyboy. I know that you're already hurting because of your friends. I didn't mean to make you more upset."

"Don't worry about it." I took a sip of my coke. "Talking with you has actually helped me a little bit."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

We finished up eating, then left Diary Queen and just started walking around, talking about nothing important, just like we had been all day.

One of the streets that we went down was quite busy. A couple of stores were having sales, so the whole side walk was swarmed with people.

"Follow me," I said, and walked in front of Beth and lead her through the big mass. As we neared a clearing, a bunch of guys, a little older than us, were fooling around and hitting each other. One guy, big and stocky, who was in the midst of it, got pushed into Beth, knocking her hard on the ground. He quickly pulled himself up from over top of her and mumbled a 'sorry' and then took off.

"Beth, are you ok?" I helped her off the ground. When she stood up, her left hand was clutching her right arm.

"I'm fine."

"Let me see," I said, and pulled the shoulder of her sweater down.

I was only expecting to see a big red mark on her skin, (she really didn't fall that hard), but what I saw instead were about three bruises and one big, red scab that was about the size of my index finger. I looked up at Beth. Her eyes were filled with tears and her face was red.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Not here, ok?" Beth told me, pulling back up her sweater, then looking around the streets to make sure that no one had saw her shoulder. She grabbed my arm and pulled me a few streets down. We didn't stop until we were standing in a small alley way.

"Beth, is your other arm like that?" I asked before she could say anything.

Beth nodded. "Yeah, but it's not as bad."

"What happened?" I repeated. Then I thought back again to what Soda had said about her brother. "Did Mark do this to you?"

Beth wiped tears from her cheeks. "Not all of it."

"What?" I yelled out, possibly too loud. I quickly lowered my voice. "You mean more than one person abuses you?"

Beth nodded again as more tears came rushing out of her eyes. I moved closer and wrapped my arms around her. Instead of pulling back, like I thought she might do, she hugged her arms around my waist and snuggled her head in my chest.

I wanted to ask her more questions about who else was hurting her, how long had it been going on, et cetera. But I decided that those questions could wait until she stopped crying. I didn't want to make her more upset.

Right now, Beth needed me more that I need her.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **kay so, here's my next chapter (obviously). sorry if there's a lot of mistakes, i wrote this kind of late. i did edit, but i'm kind of tired, so i probably missed stuff. please don't hold it agaisnt me!! :D

Anyway, enjoy!

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Chapter Three**

I stood there in the alley way with Beth for a few minutes just holding her. When her crying stopped, we broke away from each other and we both sat down against the wall. Beth pulled her knees up to her chest and wiped her eyes.

I didn't want to say anything, in fear of making her cry again, so I pulled out a pack of smokes, put one in my mouth and lit in.

"Can I have one of those?" Beth asked.

"Sure," I said, and held out the pack for her. She carefully took one out and place it between her lips. I handed her the lighter, but her hands were shaking still, so she couldn't produce a flame. "Here, let me do it." I took the light from her hands and lit the cigarette for her.

"Thanks."

She took a long drag and then exhaled in a way that sounded as if she were exhaling years of pain.

"I didn't know that you smoked," I told her, because really, she didn't strike me as a girl who would.

"I don't." she put her head in her hand. "I just need to calm down."

I was going to say that smoking is not something she should be doing, but I figured that she had been through too much. And besides, a lot of people smoked to relieved stress and right now, she needed to calm down.

"Look, Beth," I started. "I know that you don't want to talk about this-"

"And you're right," Beth cut me off. Tears started to fill her eyes again. I knew that she wasn't ready to tell me everything, hell, I still don't like talking about what happened with Johnny and Dally, but I had to know who was hurting her. I had to be able to protect her.

"I just want to know who's been doing this to you." I already knew Mark was one of the people who hurt her, but she had said that he wasn't the only one.

"Why does it matter?" A tear ran down her cheek. I hated seeing her like this.

"I just need to know. I want to help."

Beth stayed silent for a bit and just took drags from her cigarette. It looked like she was thinking of whether or not to tell me. I just kept quiet; I didn't want to upset her more.

She dropped her finished cigarette to the ground and stamped it out with her foot. "If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone else?"

I wanted to say no. I had to tell someone. Beth was being abused, and whether she knew it or not, she needed help.

But I knew what she was thinking; if I told someone about this, chances are word would get to the police and then Beth would be send to a home or something. I had been in the situation before, so I understood her reason for not wanting anyone to know.

"I won't tell anyone," I promised, but I hoped that she would eventually let me tell at least my brothers; they could keep a secret too.

"Ok, so you already know about Mark, right?" she asked. I nodded. "The other is my dad."

"That's it?" It's not that didn't trust her to tell me the truth, I just wanted to make sure she didn't leave anyone out.

"Ya."

"What does your mom have to say about this?"

"She doesn't care," Beth said. "In fact, that's the reason she left."

"She left?"

"Ya, Two years ago." She shifted so that she was facing me and her left side was against the wall. "See, a few months before my mom left, my dad lost his job, and he got really depressed. He started drinking a lot after that, he said that it would stop him from being sad. Well, after drinking heavily for almost a week, he wasn't sad anymore. Instead he became angry, and he would throw things all the time and threaten my mom, Mark and me.

"When my mom left, my dad started to get abusive. He blamed me and Mark for my mom leaving." She paused to wipe her eyes. "One day, I was sitting at the table doing homework. My dad started swearing at me and calling all these names. He told me that he hate my hair because I looked like my mothers. He told me to cut, but I said no. he got really pissed and went to the drawer and put out a knife and said that if I wouldn't cut it, he'd cut it for me.

"I tried to run out of the kitchen, but he caught hold of my arm and brought the knife towards my hair. But because he was drunk, he missed my hair and ended up cutting my cheek. I screamed and Mark came running from upstairs and fought off my dad. A few minutes later, my dad was on the floor unconscious and Mark had a huge cut on his arm.

"After that, Mark told me that I wasn't allowed to be alone with my dad anymore, and during the nights I would sleep in Mark's room."

"I thought that Mark hurt you too?" I asked, because the Mark from her story didn't sound like someone who would want to hurt Beth. In fact, he sounded like Darry or Sodapop, because I know for a fact that they would have protected me and each other if we had parents like that.

"Yeah, Mark does hit me, but that wasn't until later," Beth explained. "A few months after dad started beating us, Mark couldn't take it anymore. He was always the one who stood up to dad, so he was the one who always got hurt worse. He started staying out at night, leaving me alone, and I would have to lock myself in my room. It didn't take long before he was always drunk and was beating on me, along with dad."

"How do you live there?"

"I wake up really early, then I just stay out all day and when I come home, it's at night when they're out partying or are passed out," Beth said.

"I don't think I could ever do that," I told her, and it was true. I would have run away, or stayed with someone. That's what Johnny did. Whenever things got to rough at home for him, he'd come to my house, or stay with someone else. But I had a feeling that Beth wasn't really close enough with anyone to stay with them.

"I don't really have a choice. It's either I get sent to a home or I suck it up and stay at home."

"You shouldn't have to do either."

"Then what do you suggest I do?" Beth asked, sounding upset. "I mean, it's not like I have many other choices."

She was right. She wasn't in a gang like I was, so she didn't have anyone but her family to rely on. "You can stay with me," I said, before I even thought it over. I don't really think that Darry would be too happy if I asked if a girl could stay with us without him knowing her past.

As if reading my mind, Beth said, "I don't think your brother's would go for that."

"They might," is said, "if you telling them about your dad and brother."

"I don't think that's such a hot idea."

"Why not?" I asked, even though I had a feeling of what her answer would be.

"Because they might tell the police."

"They wouldn't tell anyone if you asked them not too." Beth didn't say anything. She didn't believe me. "Look, me and Soda have almost been put in a boy's house before. Darry did everything that he could to keep that from happening. He'd do the same for you."

"Maybe I'll tell them," she said. "But later. Much later." I just nodded. She wasn't going to tell them the truth anytime soon, probably because she doesn't even know them. But I figure that if she hangs out with them for a few days, she might change her mind.

Ten minutes past, and all we did was sit there in silence. Even though we weren't talking, I knew that Beth was feeling better. She didn't cry anymore and her eyes were not longer bloodshot.

"I don't want to sit here anymore," Beth said suddenly, getting up.

I got up as well. "Want to come to my house?" I asked. "Both of my brothers are at work and my friend Two-Bit should be stopping by soon. He's always good for a laugh."

To my surprise, Beth smiled. "Sounds good." I took her hand and we walked out of the alley way.

The whole walk to my house was silent. I could tell that Beth still wasn't feeling too good, so I never pushed for conversation. When we got inside, Beth and I started to watch TV, even though nothing good was on.

"Hey, where's your bathroom?" Beth asked after a few minutes. I told her where it was and she got up and left towards it.

A few seconds later, the front door came swinging open, and Two-Bit came walking in. "Hey there Ponyboy," he said. "How's it going?" He sat down beside me and slapped his hand on my knee.

"Not too bad," I said.

"Did you go out today?"

"Yeah, I was with my friend Beth."

"Oh really? How's she?"

"She's cool," I said, just as Beth came into the living room.

Two-Bit looked and her and then looked at me. "Beth?" he asked.

I nodded. "Beth."

"Hi," Beth said.

"Well, hello. I'm Two-Bit."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

I nudged Two-Bit in the side. "What!" He exclaimed. "I'm being friendly."

I looked at Beth and then at were he was sitting.

"Oh," he said, finally getting it. He looked back at Beth. "I'm sorry. I seem to be in your spot."

"It's alright," she said, as Two-Bit stood up.

He motioned to the couch with his hands. "Be my guest."

Beth smiled and sat down beside me. Two-Bit made himself comfortable on the floor in front of us.

"So, you've been hanging out with Pony, huh?"

"Ya."

Two-Bit laughed. "You're pretty brave."

"Why's that?"

"Hasn't he been all depressed with you?"

Beth shook her head. "No."

"Oh, well then I should thank you."

"For what?"

"For making him more fun to be around," Two-Bit joked and playfully hit my leg.

"Two-Bit," I said, "why don't you do something productive and go get yourself a drink or something?"

Two-Bit shrugged and stood up. "Don't have to tell me twice. Do you want anything?"

"No, I'm good."

"Beth?"

"No thanks," she said politely.

"Alright," Two-Bit said. "You're guys' loss." Then he headed for the kitchen.

"He's not too weird is he?" I asked Beth.

"No," she said, "he seems really nice."

"Yeah, just wait until you get to know him," I joked. Beth only laughed.

For the rest of the afternoon, the three of us just hung out, watched TV and made some jokes. I was glad to see that Beth was bad to herself again.

When Soda came home, he brought Steve over, and the two of them meet Beth. Luckily they didn't make any comment about her being my girlfriend. I didn't need her to start feeling uncomfortable.

"Hey Beth," Soda said. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Sure," she said.

"Great. And how about you Two-Bit? Are you staying too?"

"Might as well," Two-Bit said. "I mean everyone else is staying." He lounged back against the couch and started flipping through the channels.

"Yeah, just make yourself at home Two-Bit," Steve joked.

"Hey Steve, wanna help me out with the burgers?" Soda asked.

"Sure thing, buddy," Steve replied and then him and Soda headed to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Darry came home. When he saw both Two-Bit and Beth sitting in the living room he smiled and said, "Looks like we got ourselves a full house tonight."

"Darry, this is Beth."

"Nice to meet you," Darry said to her.

Beth smiled. "You too."

"Beth's staying for dinner," Two-Bit pointed out.

"And so are you, by the looks of it," Darry said.

"Steve too," Two-Bit added.

"Wow," Darry laughed and looked at me. "Ponyboy, next time warn me when you're gonna throw a party, huh?"

"Will do," I said.

"Hey guys," Soda said, coming into the living room. "Dinner's ready."

At that second, Two-Bit practically jumped up and raced to the kitchen, and Soda and Darry followed him in.

"So," Beth said when we got off the couch, "this is your family?"

"Yup, it sure is."

"I really like them so far."

I smiled. "Like I said before, just wait until you get to know them."

Beth laughed and shook her head at me. "Let's go eat."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Ok, so i'm really sorry that this chapter took me _forever_ to get up here, even though i said that it wouldn't. Truth is, my computer got a virus and i lost all my saved work, some family stuff came up, which took me away from my computer and, of course, stupid school and homework came along. :(

Anyways, i'll try my very best to get chapter five up within a week. But if it takes longer, please don't hate me.

Now, onward to the story! I hope you like it! :)

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Chapter Four

"So, you and Ponyboy have been hanging out these few days?" Darry asked Beth. We were all at the dinner table eating the hamburgers that Soda and Steve had cooked up.

"Yeah," Beth said simply.

"And you haven't gotten tired of him yet?" Steve joked.

Beth smiled. "Well, yeah I have, but I figure that since I ain't got nothing better to do…"

All the guys started laughing.

"Man, Pony," Two-Bit laughed. "I really like this girl."

I met Beth's eyes, so full of laughter. She really did fit in with the gang, and that I was happy for. "Yeah," I said, more to Beth than the guys, "Me too."

Two-Bit finally contained himself. "So Beth, are a greaser girl or something?"

"Two-Bit!" Darry said, before Beth could answer. "That ain't none of your business."

"I didn't mean offense," he defended himself. "I was just wondering."

"It still ain't any of your business."

"It's alright Darry," Beth said. Then to Two-Bit; "No, I'm not a greaser."

"I see," he nodded his head, then stopped. "You ain't a soc then are you?"

"Two-Bit!" we all said this time.

But Beth didn't seem to mind him asking. She only shook her head. "Nope, not one of those either. I'm just a normal, everyday girl."

"Well, as long as you ain't a soc," Two-Bit said and then took a bit from his burger.

"Hey Pony," Darry said to me after dinner. "Can you do the dishes for me tonight?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I'll help," Beth chimed in; she had been standing beside me.

"Are you sure?" Darry asked. "You don't have to."

"It's ok, I want to."

Darry only smiled and then left the room.

"You don't have to help me, Beth," I repeated what Darry had said. I started filling the sink with water and added dish soap.

Beth laughed. "You're family is too nice."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you guys are nice." She grabbed a dish towel from out of the cupboard. "You know, letting me stay for dinner, not wanting me to do the dishes-"

"-pulling out your chair, opening car doors," I finished for her. I handed her a dish I had just washed. "You know, we're not the gentlemen that you make us out to be. I mean, you ain't gonna see us giving you lobster or anything. I fact, you're lucky you came here on a day that Sodapop didn't decide to make some weird, gross tasting, creation."

"I heard that," Soda said as he came into the kitchen. He quickly grabbed two beers out of the fridge and then left.

"I never said that you guys were all high class." Beth finished drying her plate and placed it on the counter. "Besides, some high class guys are real jerks, thinking their better then everyone else. I'm glad that you're not like that."

"Yeah, and I'm glad that you ain't one of them high class people either."

After we finished doing the dishes, we joined the rest of the gang in the living room. We ended up playing poker, using pennies as the chips. Darry won – he has a good poker face.

Around seven, Steve left for home and by eight, Soda and Two-Bit went to the corner store to get some food.

"What time do you have to be home by?" Darry asked Beth. "I don't want you're folks to worry about you."

"Oh, they won't," she said. "Worry, I mean." Darry gave her a sideways glance. "See, my dad works really late, and my brother too, so they don't except me to home before them. In fact, they fell more comfortable when I just hang over at a friends house 'cause at least they know I'm safe."

Beth totally bullshitted that whole story, but of course, Darry didn't know that. He just nodded. "Alright, as long as they're ok with it."

Soda and Two-Bit came back a few minutes later, each of them carrying two bags of chips each. By the time Two-Bit left at nine, we all had eaten three of the bags.

"I should really get going." Beth got up from the couch.

"I'll walk you home," I said, getting up myself.

"It was nice meeting you both."

"Hope to see you some more," Soda smiled at her.

"You're welcome anytime," Darry added.

Beth gave them one last smile and then we headed out the door and down the street.

"Is your dad our brother going to be home?"

Beth shook her head. "No. My dad is always at bars all night and Mark is at a party."

We didn't say anything else the whole time until Beth stopped in front of a shabby little house.

"Is this it?" I asked. I wasn't too sure. Beth had said that no one was going to be home, be there was clearly a party happening in this house.

"Yeah, it is," Beth said, sounding confused. "I don't get it; Mark said that he was going to a party, not having one."

I shrugged. "Maybe there was a change in plans." Not that I had any idea at all.

"Maybe," she said, but really believing it.

"You know," I turned Beth so that she was looking at me and not at the house; "you can always just stay at my place."

"And tell your brothers what? That my brother is throwing a wild party and that my dad is off somewhere drunk and that I need a place to stay because it's not safe to sleep in my own house?"

"They'll understand," I reassured her.

"It doesn't matter Ponyboy."

"Why are you being so difficult?" I didn't mean for it to sound rude, but she really was making things frustrating.

"I'm being difficult?" Her voice started to rise.

My voice started rising also. "Yes you are. You won't let me and my brothers provide a place for you to sleep, even though they _would_ understand everything that's going on with you. Don't you think that they've seen stuff like this before?"

"I'm not saying that they haven't, but I don't exactly like people knowing that both my dad and my brothers are alcoholics, and abusive ones at that."

"Listen," I said, keeping my tone at its normal level. "I can understand that you don't want every single person, especially people that you just met today, to know about your life, but I'm not just going to let you go in there by yourself and stay there alone."

"I'll be fine," Beth said, her voice now calm. "I can get into the house without using the front door. I just climb through my bedroom window. And my bedroom's always locked so no one can get in."

Beth took me around to the side of the house. Sure enough, hidden behind a tree was a window.

"All I do is climb up that tree and hop in through the window," Beth explained.

"I still don't want to just leave you here," I told her. "Maybe I should wait with you until the party dies down a little."

"But what are you supposed to tell Darry and Soda?"

"I'll call and tell them I'm staying at you're house for a bit."

"And what about the music?" she asked. I thought for a minute. She was right, I couldn't just make a phone call at her house with all that noise, they'd know something was up.

"I'll think of something to tell them," I said, and helped Beth into the tree.

When we got in her room, I was surprise that the music wasn't as loud as I thought. Not only was the noise muffled because we had the door closed, but the music was coming from downstairs, and we were upstairs.

Beth turned on her lamp that was on her night stand. "The phone's here." She pointed to her desk that was sitting at the far side of her room.

I picked up the receiver and dialed home. Soda answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Soda. It's me, Ponyboy."

"Hey Pony, where are you? And what's with all that noise?"

So he could still hear the music.

"Um…" I fought hard to think of an excuse. "I'm over at Beth's nieghbour's house. They're having a party"

"What the hell are you doing there?" Soda asked. "You shouldn't be at any party.

"No, It's not like that," I said quickly. "You see, Beth's family isn't home, and she wanted me to stay with her until they got home. But the thing is, her phone isn't working, so we had to go to her nieghbour's house and use theirs." Hopefully he bought that.

"Well alright," Soda said, sounding completely fine with my excuse. "Just call us when her dad or brother gets home and Darry and I will pick you up."

"Um, no that's ok," I told him. I did not need them coming over here. "Beth said that her dad will just drive me home when he gets back."

"Ok, sure. What time is he supposed to be home?"

"I don't know," I told him. "He should be back by one at the latest."

"One?" Soda asked, sounding surprised. "That's kind of late. Both me and Darry have to get up in the morning."

"You guys don't have to wait up for me," I said, even though Darry will always stay up until I get home. "It's not like anything's going to happen to me, I'm just at Beth's house." It wasn't like the night that Johnny killed Bob; Darry and Soda didn't have any idea where I was. At least they did now.

Soda must have been thinking the same thing I was 'cause he said; "You're right, at least we know where you are. Just stay there and don't leave until her dad brings you home. If Darry and I are asleep, not wake us."

"Don't worry," I said, smiling at the thought of me coming home and seeing both of my brothers passed out on the couch. "I won't." We said goodbye and then I hung up the phone.

I turned around to see Beth sitting on her bed in her night gown. I didn't even know that she had gotten changed. She had done it when I was on the phone and my back was turned.

"You called you're brothers," she said this more like a statement then a question.

"Yeah," I said anyways. I walked over to her and sat on the edge of her bed. It was fairly sized, but it wasn't as big and me and Soda's. "Are you tired?"

Beth nodded. Even though it was only about ten o'clock, I figured that Beth didn't sleep very well sometimes.

"You should go to bed," I told her, standing up. I started to pulled the covers back from underneath her and lay them on top of her.

"Will you lay with me?" she asked. My heart skipped a beat; I didn't expect that. But then again, maybe I should have, I mean, Beth probably hasn't been shown any affection in the longest time and maybe she just didn't someone to be with her. But I really hoped that she wanted me with her, not because she thought of me as a friend, but as more then a friend.

"Sure," I said, taking off my shoes, as she moved over to her left to give me some more room. I got in beside her and she automatically snuggle into me; her back against my chest. I reached over and turned off the light so that she could sleep.

For a while it was quite, except for the party that was going on downstairs, until a loud group of people started making cheering noise. I'm not too sure what they were cheering about exactly, but Beth started to tense up, so I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close.

"Have you ever been in love?" Beth asked suddenly.

"Um, no," I said. "Why? Have you?"

"No, I was just wondering." Then she fell silent again.

The people downstairs finally stopped all their stupid cheering and yelling.

"Do you want to fall in love?" Beth asked.

"Yeah I guess. I mean, I do want to have a family someday, don't you?"

"Yeah, I family would be nice," she said. "A nice house, a beautiful lawn, a couple of kids running around outside, maybe a dog."

I laughed. "Sounds like you've got this all planned out."

"Yeah," she said. "I can't wait to fall in love, get married and just get away from this life and start a new one. One that is filled with love and trust."

"I hope you get it all," I said, really meaning it. If anything, I wanted Beth to be happy, and having a family would make her ecstatic.

"Do you think that either of us will ever fall in love?" she asked.

"I hope so."

Beth turned to face me, even though we couldn't see each other in the dark. "Do you think that we'll ever fall in love with each other?"

"I hope so," I repeated. Then I reached out my hand and cupped her face, bringing it closer to mine until our lips met.

You know, I always thought that when I had my first kiss, that it would be awkward because I wouldn't know what I was doing. But kissing Beth wasn't awkward at all. Maybe it was because we were both inexperienced, or maybe because I truly did love her that I didn't realize that I couldn't kiss.

Well, if I couldn't kiss, Beth sure as hell didn't say anything, because when we broke apart, we only broke apart for a second before we pulled each other in for another kiss.

After a few minutes of what Soda would call making-out, Beth rested against me and, presumably, closed her eyes. I just lay there and listened to the noise of the party, waiting for it to quiet down so that I could go home without leaving Beth with a party full of drunk people.

My eyes started to get heavy, so I decided to close them while I lay there. Unfortunately though, when I opened my eyes again, I could see everything in the room perfectly.

I started to sit up. "Oh no," I said. I looked at the clock that I had not noticed was on her wall the night before. It read ten o'clock. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" she asked, just waking up, her eyes not even open.

"It's morning," I told her. "Darry and Soda are gonna kill me."

"Oh, god. What are we going to do?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Maybe we could tell them that when my dad got home, we were both passed out and he didn't want to wake," she offered. I nodded, even though I knew that Darry and Soda wouldn't buy that, and I'm pretty sure that Beth realized that too.

But seeing as that was the best plan we had so far, I headed to the window. "I've got to get home."

"Wait." Beth grabbed my arm. "I'm going with you."

"No, it's ok. I don't need you getting in any trouble either."

"This is my fault, so I'm coming."

"Fine," I said. "I'll wait outside." Then I climbed out the window and down the tree.

A few minutes later, Beth was changed into another one of her skirts – this one was blue – and a matching sweater.

"You ready?" she asked.

I took her hand in mine. "Yeah, I'm ready."

But the truth was, I wasn't ready, because I knew that once I got home, I was probably never going to be able to leave it again.

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So, was it good? or was it bad? Review are greatly welcome! Thanks to all who have already review (more then once i might add) but i would love a few more reviews.

Anyways, i hope to have chapter five out soon!! :)

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	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Wow, how much do you guys hate me right now for not updating sooner?? Well, hopefully you don't hate me enough to not read this chapter (but if you don't read it, it doesn't really matter to me).

Anyways, sorry it took soooooooooo long to get this chapter out, i had major writers block and whenever i wrote something for this chapter, i hated it and then erased it. So if you hate this chapter i won't be mad because i don't really like it myself.

Anyway, feel free to read on and if you have the time, please review (even if it's just ot tell me how crappy this chapter is.) :D

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**Chapter Five**

I wasn't too sure of which I was more scared of; Darry yelling at me, or Beth getting in trouble.

We already had a plan, which involved us falling asleep (though not in the same bed as we actually did) and then her dad not wanting to wake us up when he got home. Even though this seemed like an ok kind of plan, I wasn't too sure that Darry was gonna buy it.

"Are you ok?" Beth asked as we walked down the street. I was walking kind of fast, though I don't know why I would be, and I realized I was holding her hand kind of hard.

"Sorry." I loosened my grip.

"Do you really think you'll get in that much trouble?"

"Yes," I said without hesitation. Last time I fell asleep, Darry hit me and Johnny and I ended up running away. But come to think of it, maybe I wouldn't get in much trouble for last night, I mean, at least he knew were I was, and it's not like I could have gotten into any trouble at her house (unless he knew about the party). Maybe our plan would work and I'd just get let off with a warning.

I was starting to feel a little better when we reached my house. The truck was still outside, meaning that Darry, and most likely Soda, were home, not that I expected any different.

I let go of Beth's hand and went ahead first to the front door. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside, hoping that they wouldn't be too mad with me.

"PONYBOY CURTIS!"

Never mind.

"Where the hell have you been?" Darry yelled at me, getting up off the couch. Soda ran in from the kitchen "Soda and I fell asleep last night waiting for you to come home, and when we wake up we find that you never actually made it here."

"I'm sorry," I said weakly. Even though Beth was behind me, I could sense that she was a little scared.

"I don't want to hear it," Darry said. "I thought that you would have learnt your lesson from the first time."

"But this was totally different!" I screamed back. "You and Soda knew where I was and it's not like there was any danger at her house." Again, minus the party.

"Alright, I understand that," Darry said, no longer yelling, but still very angry. "But that still doesn't explain why you never came home."

"We fell asleep," I told him.

"What?" Darry asked in a stern voice. I didn't understand why we would be so mad about that until I say Soda's face.

"Wait a minute," I said, trying to calm them down. "Nothing happened between us." Well, nothing _they_ though happened, happened.

"It's so much clearer now," Darry said.

"Darry," I tried again, "we didn't….ya know."

Beth came to my rescue. "Darry, Soda, nothing happened, I promise you."

"So," Soda said, "you didn't have sex?"

"NO!" Beth and I said at the same time.

I guess having us both yell at them proved our point because Darry said, "Alright, then why didn't you come home last night."

I sighed. "I told you, we feel asleep."

"Didn't her father wake you guys up?"

"No," Beth answered.

"Well, why not?" Beth and I shrugged our shoulders.

"Darry," Soda said. "Maybe we should call Beth's dad and ask him." I knew what Soda was trying to do. He was trying to take our side and get Darry to realize that it wasn't our fault Beth's dad didn't wake us. The only problem was, he was digging us a deeper hole.

"Yeah, maybe I should." Darry walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Beth, what's your number."

I looked back at Beth. Her eyes were starting to water, a sign that she was going to cry and tell them everything, and there wasn't much I could do to help her.

"You can't call him," she said plainly.

"Why?" Darry put the phone back down. "Is he not home?"

"I don't know."

Soda looked at her with concern. "Didn't you see him this morning?"

Beth shook her head and tears started running down her face.

Darry stepped beside me. "Ponyboy, what's going on?"

I started to speak but Beth stopped me. "There's something I need to tell you, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone." Darry and Soda stared at her for a moment. I knew that they didn't want to agree, but they nodded anyway, and Beth told them everything she had told me.

"Beth," Darry said when she finished. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," she said. "It ain't your fault."

Soda came up beside her. "If there's anything we can do…"

"Just don't tell anybody," Beth re-enforced.

"Don't worry, we won't." Soda and I knew what it was like to almost get taken away from your family. And even if Beth's family was abusive, she didn't exactly want to get sent away somewhere and never she her friends again.

"You can stay here as long as you like," Darry said. He led Beth over to the couch and she sat down. "Do you want anything?"

Beth shook her head. "No thanks, I'm fine." Darry nodded and headed for the kitchen, probably to get her something anyway, and Soda followed. I sat beside Beth, but didn't say anything; there wasn't much that I could say to make her feel better.

A few minutes later, Darry came back into the living room carrying a plate with toast on it. "Here, you guys should eat something." He placed it on the coffee table in front of us. "I'm gonna head off to work now, alright?"

"Ain't they gonna be mad that you're late?" I asked.

Darry shrugged and put his shoes on. "I'll just tell them that you got sick this morning and I almost had to take you to the hospital."

"Hey, Darry," Soda came into the living room. "I just called work and told them that I'm not gonna be in today."

"Alright." Darry grabbed his tool belt and headed for the door. "I'll be back later." Then he left.

Beth reached over to the plate on the coffee table and took a piece of toast, probably just to be nice.

"So, are you guys going to hang out here today?" Soda asked.

"I have to go back home," Beth said as she ripped her piece of toast apart.

"Beth." Soda kneeled down in front of her so that they were at eye level. "You can stay here if you want too. In fact, we insist that you stay here."

Beth shook her head. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Why not?"

Beth shrugged.

I leaned over to her. "If this is because you don't want to intrude on us, your not."

"Yeah," Soda chimed in. "No intrusion is taking place."

She laughed slightly at this. "I still don't know."

"Look, if you don't want to stay here, I respect that, I mean, if I were a girl, I wouldn't want to live in a house full of guys either. But at least stay at a friend's house or something."

"I don't have many friends," Beth told him. "I mean, I have some, but I'm not that close with them."

"So none of them know anything about your dad and your brother?" Beth shook her head. Soda sighed. "Well, if you change your mind and you want to stay here, our door is always open."

Beth nodded. "Thanks." Soda patted her hand softly and then stood up and left for our room, probably to take a nap.

The rest of the day was pretty mellow. Two-Bit came over around noon and immediately realized something was wrong. In the end, Soda told him everything that happened (with Beth's permission of course) and then Two-Bit felt bad so he starting cracking jokes (most of which were pointed at me) to make her feel better.

Sometime after five, Steve came around, and Soda told him about what happened. He too felt bad so he decided to go and get a pizza so that we didn't have to cook. By the time he came back, Darry was already home and we all sat at the table and ate.

"So," Soda said to Beth, "are you going to stay over tonight?"

Beth smiled. "You're not going to give up on that are you?"

"No way."

"Well, then I guess I have no choice."

"So you will stay?" I asked just to make sure.

"Yeah, I'll stay. But I'll have to go home to grab some of my stuff."

"That's all right," Darry said. "We'll all go with you."

"Thanks."

After dinner, instead of doing the dishes and cleaning up, we started to head out. It was practically seven and I knew that Beth didn't really want to leave this early in fear that he father or brother might try to hurt her. But I figured that she trust all of us enough to protect her because she never objected to going to her house.

Me and Beth lead the way (seeing as we were the only ones who knew the way), while Darry and Soda walked closely behind and Two-Bit and Steve brought up the rear.

When we reached her house, Soda spoke up. "Wait a second. I know this house."

"Yeah," Steve agreed, "It does look familiar."

"What'd ya say your brother's name was, Beth?"

"Mark," she said simply.

"Mark?" Soda repeated, and then it clicked. "Mark, as in Mark Miller?" Beth nodded. "I should have known."

"You mean Mark, the guy who started drinking a lot?" Steve asked.

"Yeah him," Soda said. "Man, Pony, you we just asking me about that guy the other night and I didn't even put two and two together."

"You knew her brother?" Darry asked.

Soda nodded. "We hung out sometimes and once I went to his house to do something for school and I remember seeing his sister," he looked at Beth, "who, as it turns out, is you."

"Take was just before my dad started drinking," she said.

"Yeah, and then Mark started drinking too."

"And then we stopped hanging out with him," Steve added.

"So what are we waiting for?" Two-Bit asked. "Let's get in there and kick his ass."

"I don't think so," I said. "I doubt Beth wants anyone to start a fight."

Beth nodded. "Ponyboy's right, the last thing we need is the cops coming over here and taking me away."

"Fine," Two-Bit said, sounding a bit upset, "But if he, or anyone else for that matter, does anything to you, I'll personally go over to them and gracefully show their face a close up of my fist."

"Deal," Beth said. She made her way up the stairs, the rest of us following her, and opened the door, which was unlocked. We all stepped in after her.

"I don't think anyone's home," she exclaimed.

"Good," Soda said, "I don't really feel like running into old friends at this moment, or ever."

"My room's upstairs. I'll just be a few minutes."

"I'll go with you," Darry offered and then they both disappeared to the second floor.

"Whoa," Two-Bit said suddenly. We turned around to see that he had made his way into the liquor cabinet. "They practically have the whole store in here."

"Well, Two-Bit," Steve said, matter-o-factly, "alcoholics usually do have a larger supply of liquor than the rest of us non-alcoholics."

"I bet you that their refrigerator is stashed with beer," Two-Bit said, ignoring Steve.

Soda laughed. "Well why don't you go look?"

"I plan too." And with that, he closed the cabinet and walked down the hall in search for the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" I asked Soda, noticing that he had a confused look on his face.

He shrugged. "I don't know, it's just weird I guess. I mean, I used to be friends with this guy and then he totally screwed his life up."

"It's not your fault."

"Yeah, I know."

"Yes! I was right?" Two-Bit yelled from, presumably, the kitchen.

"I'm guessing that ol' Two-Bit found what he was looking for," Steve said and, sure enough, Two-Bit came back into the living room with two beers in his hands.

We all gave him a look. "What?" he asked innocently. "They have more than enough."

I shook my head at him and then looked towards the stairs. "I wonder what's taking them so long?"

"You know girls," Two-Bit said. "They have to get all their make-up, their shampoo, they have to pack 20 different outfits to last them only two days because they don't know what the weather's doing to be like."

I was going to say something back him, but was cut short when the door opened and a boy stood in the doorway. He was tall and strong looking, not 'Darry' strong, but he could hold his own in a fight. He also looked like Beth; he had her blonde hair and blue eyes.

"What the hell are all you greasers doing in my house?" he asked. Even though he didn't sound it, I could tell he was drunk.

"Hey Mark," Soda said. "Long time not see."

Mark eyed him for a second. "Sodapop?" Then he noticed Steve. "And Steve?"

"How's it going?" Steve asked, not sounding friendly.

"Well, it was going great 'til you guys showed up."

"Don't worry," Two-Bit said. "We're leaving soon."

Mark glared at him. "Ah, correction, you're leaving now and you're leaving without my beer."

Two-Bit gripped the beer tighter. "I'm sorry, but we can't leave just yet, we're waiting for someone."

"Who?"

"Beth," I said, grateful to have found my voice.

Mark laughed slight. "What do you want with her?"

Just then, Darry came down the stairs, Beth was behind him, holding her bag. "She's staying with us."

"Like hell she is," Mark spat.

"You don't own me," Beth snapped.

Mark opened his mouth to speak, but Two-Bit cut him off. "Be careful what you say."

"And why's that?"

"Because there's more of us then there is of you."

Mark gave us all a hard look. "Fine, whatever. Take Beth with you, I don't care. At least now I don't have to see her face anymore."

Darry and Beth finished down the stairs and we started to make our way out the door when Mark stopped us. "One more thing."

"What is it?" Beth asked.

"Mom says hi."

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"What are you talking about?" Beth asked Mark. She was trying to act clam, but I knew that she was freaking out inside. Her mom had left her two years ago, and I doubt that Beth was ready for a family reunion.

"Mom stopped by," Mark said, as he fell down onto the couch. "She wanted to see you."

"Why?"

Mark shrugged. "How should I know, and why would I even care. She left us, Beth, she didn't care about us."

Tears were filling her eyes; I knew she didn't want to hear this. She was well aware that her mom left, but she didn't need him to remind her. "Where is she?"

"Why? You want to run off just like her?"

Two-Bit stepped in before Beth could say anything. "Better than living here."

Mark jumped off the couch and towered over Two-Bit. "Was I talking to you, Greaser?"

"No, but I'm the one that has to listen to you."

Mark balled his hand in a fist. "Man, I'm gonna punch you so hard-"

"Hey," Darry said, stepping in between them. "Let's not start any of this."

"Just tell Beth where her mom is," Soda said.

"I don't know where she is," Mark told us. "All she said was that she was staying with someone."

Beth threw her hands against her hips. "Well, thanks. That only narrows it down to everyone."

"Don't give me attitude," Mark yelled at her. If I didn't know any better, I could swear that I saw hurt in his eyes. "It's not my fault she didn't tell me where she was staying."

There was silence for a moment, and then Beth stormed out of the house, her bag in tow. I quickly went after her.

"Beth, wait up," I called to her. When she reached the end on the sidewalk, she stopped walking and turned around.

"I hate her, you know," Beth said. "It's bad enough that she left the first time, but now she's back."

"Maybe she just wants to fix what she did."

"Well she can't."

"Beth, are you alright?" Darry asked, coming up to us. Everyone else was behind him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to get out of here."

Darry nodded. "Sure."

**

"I want to go find my mom," Beth said to me the following morning. She was sitting at the kitchen table, while I was drying the dishes from lunch. I was surprised to hear her speak because she hadn't said anything all day.

"So you don't hate her?" I asked, thinking back to what she had said last night.

Beth shook her head. "Well, I'm not exactly happy with her –she did leave after all- but I don't hate her." She looked down at the table. "I think you're right, you know."

I looked at her confused. "About what?"

"About what you said last night, about how my mom might just want to fix what happened between us." She looked up at me and looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Do you think that she's just her in Tulsa, or do you think she left because she couldn't find me?" She buried her face in her hands.

I sat down across from her and took her hands in mine. "Don't worry, our mom's probably still here. I mean, you're brother only saw her yesterday and I doubt that she would give up looking for you only after one day."

Beth sighed. "You're right. But how am I supposed to find her? I don't know where she is, and she clearly doesn't know where I am."

"She might stop by your house again."

"But I don't want to go back there, not when my dad and Mark are there."

"Well, how 'bout we hang around your house and see if she comes around," I offered.

"So, you mean you want to stake out my house?" she asked.

I nodded. "Pretty much."

"Well, better then our first option. When do you want to go?"

**

Half an hour later, we were down the street and a few houses down from Beth's house, waiting to see if her mom would show up.

After twenty minutes of being there, I was ready to knock myself unconscious.

Whenever there was nobody to be seen, Beth would say stuff like, "When do you think she'll be here?" or "Do you think she'll actually come?"

And when cars started passing by us, and then slowing down at the end of the street, she would say, "Do you think that's her?" only to have the car drive away. After her saying this to about six cars, I pointed out to her that the reason those cars were stopping was because of the stop sign at the end of the street.

I leaned back against the chain linked fence we were sitting by and lit up a cigarette. Beth came beside me and rested her head on my shoulder. "Are you mad at me?"

"No," I told her, even though she was starting to get a bit annoying. "I know that your frustrated with wanting to find your mom."

"I don't even know why I want to talk with her so badly. I mean, when she left, I told myself that I was never going to forgive her for walking out on me, and that I never wanted to see her again. But now she's back and the first thing I want to do is find her."

"You might be mad that she left, but maybe you're madder at the fact that she couldn't stay."

"She could've stayed. No one was making her leave."

"No, but your dad wasn't exactly making it easy to live there."

"So what you're saying is that I'm mad at my dad for making my mom leave?" Beth said angrily to me.

"I'm not saying that's why you're mad. All I'm saying is that you're mom probably didn't want to live with an alcoholic and thought that her only escape was to run off." I stood up and stomped out my smoke.

"Why would she go without her kids?" she yelled at me.

"I don't know!" I yelled back.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly hid her face.

"Beth, don't cry," I said, the anger leaving my voice.

"I ain't crying."

"Really, then what do you call it?" I asked, kneeling down beside her. When she didn't say anything, I put my hand on shoulder.

"Ponyboy," she said after a few minutes.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I know you were only trying to help. It's just that, I can't figure out why she didn't take me and Mark with her when she left."

"I guess you'll just have to wait and ask her."

Luckily, she didn't have to wait much longer, because ten minutes later, a blue pick-up truck stopped in front of Beth's house, and a blonde woman got out and headed for the front door.

"Pony," Beth said, hitting my arm to get my attention. "That's her, that's my mom." She quickly got up and ran across the street towards her.

"Beth, wait up," I called to her. I stood up and ran after her and by the time I caught up, Beth's mom had her enveloped in a hug.

"Baby, I've missed you," her mom said, kissing the top of her head.

"I've missed you too," she said, then pulled back and gestured to me. "Mom, this is my boyfriend, Ponyboy."

Her mom looked over at me and smiled. She looked almost identical to Beth, including her smile. "Ponyboy. What a nice name, very unique." Then she shook my hand. "Very nice to meet you. I'm Helen Baker."

"Baker?" Beth said, obviously surprised.

Helen quickly turned to face her daughter. "Sweetie, we have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah, we do," she said, starting to become upset again.

"Look, honey, I'm staying at a friends house while I'm here in Tulsa," her mom explained. "Why don't you come over so we can talk."

Instead of answering her mother's question, Beth looked at me as if she didn't know what to do. I was pretty sure she was starting to regret ever coming here.

Her mom must have noticed Beth's look, because she said, "Don't worry, I won't keep you away from your boyfriend long, I just want to talk. I haven't seen you in two years."

Beth looked back at her mother and I swear I could hear her thoughts screaming, 'And whose fault is that!'

But instead of yelling at her, Beth just nodded and said, "That sounds like a good idea."

**

"Hey, Ponyboy," Soda said when he came home from work later that day. "Where's Beth?"

"Out with her mom," I told him.

"What? I thought she didn't want to talk with her?"

I shrugged. "I thought so too, but today she said she wanted to go hear her out, but now I'm thinking that she sort of regrets going."

"Why's that."

"Well, I didn't stick around long enough, but I do know that her mom's last name isn't the same as Beth's."

"She got married?"

"That's what I'm guessing."

"So she's mad that her mom got married?"

"Maybe," I said, "but I don't think that's what's pissing her off the most. I think that, finding out her mom's married just remind Beth that her mom left her and started a new life with out her kids."

"Yeah, I'd be pretty pissed if that happened to me too," Soda said. "Do you know when she'll be back?"

I shook my head. "No idea."

"Well, I'll go start on dinner and I'll make enough in case she comes around before then."

Around ten o'clock that night, Darry came into me and Soda's room. I was sitting on the bed reading one of my books, and looked up when he stood beside me.

"Is Beth staying with her mom tonight?" he asked.

"I don't know," I told him.

"Has she not called yet or anything?"

"No, she doesn't know our number."

"Well, then why don't you call her?"

"'Cause I don't have her number."

Darry let out a frustrated sigh. "Why didn't you ask for it?"

"I don't know, I didn't think of it."

I could tell Darry was ready to yell at me for not using my head, but he didn't. Ever since I was almost taken away when Bob was killed, Darry and I have been trying real hard to get along. It's been a lot smoother between us, but there are just some times (like right now) when Darry's frustration gets the better of him. Luckily he's been learning to control his anger.

"I'm sure she's fine, Darry," I reassured him. "She's with her mom."

"But what if she was now her way back her and got mugged or something."

I shook my head. "Beth wouldn't walk by herself at night; she would have asked her mom for a ride."

"No offense, Ponyboy, but I'm pretty sure that Beth is usually out at night, by herself."

This was true, seeing as Beth made a habit of being away from her dad and brother as often as possible, which probably included being out by herself after dark. But that was only because she was alone. Now she was with her mom, so she would have not reason to be by herself at this hour.

"Trust me," I said. "She's fine."

Darry nodded. "Alright." Then he left the room.

That night, sleep didn't come quickly. Even though I had told Darry that Beth was alright, I still couldn't block out all of the other possibilities that could have happened to her.

"Pony," Soda mumbled, sounding only half awake. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," I said.

"You worried about Beth?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry, she's a smart girl. If she's not here, she's either with her mom or at her house."

"I know, it's just…" I trailed off.

"It's just that you really like her and you don't want anything bad to happen to her," he finished for me.

"Yeah."

Soda laughed slightly. "Love is great, you know, but it can also hurt."

"It sure does," I said. Not knowing where Beth was was defiantly bothering me so much that it was painful.

It wasn't until Soda was asleep that I realized that Soda wasn't just talking about what was happening with Beth, he was talking about what happened with Sandy.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **So, i'd just like to start off by saying how sorry i am that this chapter took forever to come out. On the bright side, however, i will be starting summer vaction on wednesday so i should hopefully have nothing in my way to stop me from updating sooner than i have been.

So, please read on, and feel free to review! :D

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 7**

I woke up Friday morning, to the sound of someone walking in the front door. Thinking it was Two-Bit stopping by for a visit; I slowly got out of bed and made my way to my bedroom door. And just as I opened it, I noticed Beth standing not three inches from me. I jumped back startled.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Beth said. "I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that I wanted to talk to you, and your front door was open so I just came in." She paused for a second then added: "Is that alright?"

"Yeah," I said, finally getting my heart rate under control. "It's fine. That's one of the reasons we leave the door unlocked." I pause for a second. "What time is it?"

"Almost eleven."

"Are you serious?" I asked. I hadn't realized that I had slept that long. "So what's going on, how'd it go with your mom yesterday?"

Beth's face dropped. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

I opened the door all the way. "Come on," I said, motioning Beth inside my room. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "Were you at your mom's friend's house all night?" I asked, taking a seat next to her.

Beth nodded. "Yeah. We were talking, it got pretty late and she thought it would be a good idea if I stayed with her."

"So, did things go well with her?"

"No, not really."

"Then why did you stay over night?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Probably because staying there was better then going back home." She paused for a moment then said, "She's married, you know. But I kinda figured that out when she introduced herself as Helen _Baker_."

"Is that why you're so mad?"

"God, I don't know!" Beth exclaimed, throwing her head down into her hands. "I'm mad at her, but then I'm not mad at her. I just don't know what to think anymore."

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Look, I don't know what you're going through, but I do realize that this hasn't been easy on you. But do you think it's been easy on your mom? I mean, can you really blame her for wanting to marry someone else?"

Beth looked up at me. "No, I can't blame her for that. But she didn't need to leave me and my brother behind."

"I know," I said, even though I really didn't. I was no position to be taking sides. "Did your mom say anything else yesterday?"

"Yeah," Beth said. "She said that after she left home, she went to New York to live with one of her friends for high school. Then she meet this guy, Joshua Baker, and then they got married, she got two step-children, and then realized that she missed her own children and here she is, moving back to Tulsa, and trying to fixed our messed up family."

"She's moving back to Tulsa?"

"Yeah, she came here early so she could talk to Mark and me about living with her. Joshua and his two kids will be here in a few days, then they're gonna move into their new house."

"Well, I doubt that Marks gonna wanna move in with her."

"He wouldn't be allowed to move in even if he wanted too," Beth said. "When I told my mom about what happened with him after she left, she said that she wasn't going to let him into her house and set a bad example on Joshua's kids."

"So are you going to move in with her?" I asked, hoping I wouldn't make her upset. But luckily Beth just shrugged.

"I don't know," she said. "I mean, I'm pissed at my mom for what she did, but if I go back with living with my dad, I'll be hiding out during the day, sneaking in at night-"

"Basically fearing for your life," I finished for her.

There was a moments pause, then Beth sighed. "I think I'm going to move in with my mom. I'll be a lot safer, and she really seems like she wants to make up for leaving."

"I think that's a good idea," I told her. The last thing I wanted Beth to do was to stay with her father.

She smiled. "I told my mom that I would stop by her friend's house sometime today to tell her what I was going to do. Will you come with me?"

I nodded. "Of course."

Happy, Beth wrapped her arms around me and kissed my cheek. "Thanks so much."

For the next few days, Beth stayed with her mom at her friend's house, but spent most of her time hanging out with me around town and eating dinner over at our house. She had some stuff worked out with her mom, but she still didn't feel as close with her anymore, and decided that it would be best if the both of them just did their own thing for the time being.

Joshua and his kids didn't come to Tulsa until the following Wednesday. Beth called me up the night before telling me that she had to help them unpack everything and that we couldn't get together the next couple of days, but that I was invited over for dinner on Saturday night.

This news made me a little nervous. Yes, I had already meet Beth's mother, but that was informal, and she was more interested in her relationship with Beth, not Beth's relationship with me. And then there was Beth's step-father. I didn't know anything about him, and Beth said as little on the subject as possible when we talked on the phone. And even though Joshua has never been a father figure in Beth's life, he might want to fit that roll as soon as he meets me.

"Just be polite and be yourself," Darry told me Saturday morning.

"Just not your greaser self," Soda added in.

"Right," Darry agreed. "Be your book reading, track runnin', movie watchin' self."

"No talking about knives—"

"—or guns—"

"—or rumbles you've saw—"

"—or have been in."

"Guys," I said, holding up my hands in defense. "It's only dinner, I think I can figure this out for myself without you two listing stuff I need to remember."

Soda smiled and wrapped his arm around my neck, and with his other hand, messed up my hair. "I can't believe it," he said to Darry, "our little Pony's growing up."

"Lay off," I said, pushing Soda away playfully.

"It won't be long until his married, has some kids, getting a job—"

Darry gave him a look.

"—just not in that order," Soda added quickly.

"It better not be in that order," Darry said, then turned to me. "I better see your butt in college before you even think about marriage."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. Don't worry."

Darry nodded in improvement and Soda gave me a look as if to say, "Sorry for making this conversation turn into a mini-lecture."

When it was time to go, Darry told me that he'd drive me over to Beth's, and went off to get his keys. I waited by the truck and looked down at myself. I was wearing one of Soda's old button up shirts, – which was in really good condition because he had only worn it once at Christmas – my good pair of jeans and my sneakers, and my hair was combed back neatly.

Darry and Soda had both said that I looked fine, and I almost believed them until Two-Bit came over and had to leave the room so he could laugh. Darry assured me that he wasn't laughing 'cause I looked bad, but because I looked more dressed up then usually, and he refused to let me get changed. He did, however, let me un-tuck my shirt from my pants.

"Ready to go Pony?" Darry asked, making me jump. I hadn't heard him come up from behind me.

"Yeah," I said and jumped into the passenger seat.

A couple minutes later, Darry pulled up to a two-story white house, complete with a large porch, neat lawn and a mailbox with the name _Baker _written on the side. If I hadn't known who lived here, I might have thought it was some stuck up family who thought they were perfect. But then again, I only knew _one _person who lived here, so there was still a possibility of Joshua and Beth's mom being stuck up and soc-ish, if that's even a word (which I highly doubt).

"This looks like a nice place," Darry said, shutting off the engine. The whole gang, and probably other people too, knew that this kind of life; prefect house, perfect family, perfect job, was what he wanted, but knew he couldn't get there, or at least not anytime soon.

I started to get out of the truck and noticed that Darry was doing the same. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Walking you to the door."

I shook my head. "No, you don't have to, I can do it myself."

"Come on," he said putting his arm around me when I walked up beside him. "I'm only going to introduce myself then leave. Besides, parents are more comfortable meeting their daughters boyfriends when they see that the boy's parental figure is polite."

"I hope so," I said, shrugging Darry's arm off me. We made our way up the steps, but before we could knock on the door, it swung open and Beth stood were the door had been just two seconds ago.

"I'm so glad you're here," Beth said, a huge smile on her face. "My mom's been going crazy all day cleaning and she's been asking when you'd be coming over for the past hour."

Hearing this, I started to calm down. If Beth's mom was excited that I was coming over, then they probably wouldn't put me through an interrogation.

"Is that Ponyboy?" a voice said from inside the house. A few seconds later, Beth's mom came to the door. She was drying her hands on her apron that was tied around her power blue dress. Like Beth, she had a huge grin on her face. "How are you doing, dear?" she asked me.

"I'm good, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm just fine." Her gaze moved and landed on Darry. "Oh wait, don't tell me. You're Ponyboy's brother, right?"

Darry nodded. "Yes. I'm Darrel Curtis." He shook Mrs. Baker's hand.

"Darry, right. Beth told me Ponyboy had two brothers. The other brother isn't here is he?" Darry and I shook our heads. "Shame, I would have loved to meet him. What was his name again?"

"Sodapop," I told her.

"Right, how could I have forgotten that name? Such nice names you boys have, your parents must have been really creative. Shame what happened to them, but I'm sure you don't want to talk about that." Then, realizing that she was still talking she said, "Sorry, I just stand here and keep rambling, when I'm sure you'd love to come in a sit down. Darry, will you be joining us tonight, we have an extra seat if you want to."

Darry politely shook his head. "No thank you Mrs. Baker, I should get myself home."

"No problem, dear, will get together sometime soon I'm sure. Drive safely and please, call me Helen."

Darry nodded at her, gave me a quick smile and walk down towards his truck.

"Come on in Ponyboy," Beth said, grabbing my hand. She pulled me into house and down the hall. Even though Beth was walk quite fast, I noticed that the hardwood floors were freshly polish, and the deep red walls were full of pictures; some of Beth and her mom, Mr. and Mrs. Baker and some of two boys, who I figured were Joshua's kids. I would have never guessed that this family had just moved in three days ago; it seemed that they have lived here forever.

Beth didn't let go of my hand until we turned out of the hall and into the living room, which, like the hall, was decorated with pictures, as well as some plants. There were two couches and a dark wood coffee table which was position in front of, but a safe distance away, from a large fireplace. Sitting on one of the couches was a man who looked to be in his early forties. He was reading a book but looked away from it when we walked in.

"Joshua," Beth said, pushing me gently forward. "This is Ponyboy."

Joshua put the book on the coffee table, stood up and shook my hand. Now that I was standing closer to him, I noticed his hair was starting to turn gray at the roots, which didn't actually make him look older, just more experienced. I had a feeling that he was probably in his fifties but, for some reason, didn't look it. He was probably going to be one of those people who still looked forty when they turned sixty. Lucky. "I am very pleased to meet you. Beth, and my wife for that matter, have talked nothing but you all day."

"Oh," I said, not really knowing how to respond to that.

"Don't worry," he said, clapping a hand on my shoulder, "they've only said good things. Well actually, Beth said a lot of good things; Helen just talked about how amazing your name was." He started laughing at this, and so did I, but only because he was. Then I was left wondering if this guy actually thought he was funny?

When he stopped laughing, he looked Beth and me. "Why don't you two wait down here and I'll go upstairs and get the boys. I'm sure they'd love to meet Ponyboy."

Beth and I sat beside each other on one of the couches. When Joshua left the room, Beth turned to me. "So, what do you think so far?"

"Your mom's really nice and so is your step-dad," I told her. Even though Joshua wasn't as funny as he must hope, he was still really friendly.

"Ok, good, I thought you might not like them or something."

"I thought they wouldn't like me."

"Well don't worry," Beth said, taking my hand in hers, "Both mom and Joshua are really happy you're here. And truthfully, I think that the only reason their acting goofy is because there glad that I didn't end up like my brother and that I meet a really great guy."

I smiled at her, taking her face in my hands and then kissed her softly.

"Ewwwwwwww."

Beth and I pulled apart to see to young boys looking at us – her step-brothers.

"That's gross," said the younger looking one, his face twisted in disgust.

The older looking brother was standing beside him laughing. "Beth and Ponyboy, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G," he sang. My face started to feel hot. I looked over at Beth; her face was flushing red.

"Enough you two," Mrs. Baker said, coming into the room. "It won't be long until you've got dates of your own."

"But I'd never do _that,_" said the younger boy, referring to kissing. Mrs. Baker only smiled at him.

"This is Jonathan," she gestured to the younger boy. "And this is Peter."

"They're ten and six," said Joshua, walking into the room. "So please excuse them. They tend to get riled up when we have guest come over, especially new guest."

"How old are you?" Peter asked me.

"14."

"So is Beth," Jonathan exclaim.

"No, not for two more weeks," Peter said, pushing his brother.

"Hey," Joshua said to the two boys. "Take it outside."

"OK!" the two boys chased each other out the back door.

Joshua sighed. "Boys." Then he looked at me. "I'm sure you and your brothers were like that too at one point. You have two, correct."

I nodded. "Yeah, I've got two, and we always beat each other up." We still did sometimes, especially when we played football, which we hadn't play since Dally and Johnny had been gone.

"Well," Joshua said, "I guess I should go get those boys in here so they don't get all dirty before dinner." He turned around and walked towards the back door.

"And I have a roast in the oven that needs to be taken out," Helen said, looking at the clock in the living room, then dashed towards the kitchen.

"So," Beth said. "You still like everyone?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Then we walked into the kitchen and helped Mrs. Baker set the table.

* * *

**A/N:** So that was chapter seven, any good? Let me know. Oh and just so everyone's aware, i will not be here all weekend (going to the US!) and i'm busy until wednesday with graduation stuff, so if i don't reply to anyone i'm sorry in advance. and i'll try to update shortly after wednesday! thanks for reading and happy summer!


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